What Might've Been: Like Hep (1969)

 The success of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In prompted NBC to commission some additional entries from producers George Schlatter & Ed Friendly.

Like Hep, billed as a special, could, for all intents & purposes, have been a pilot for a potential series. Headlined by Dinah Shore, Like Hep was paced similarly to Laugh-In, with quick skits interspersed with musical numbers. Lucille Ball (Here's Lucy) and Diana Ross are the featured guests, with Dan Rowan, Dick Martin, and announcer Gary Owens crossing over from Laugh-In. Look quick for a cameo by Lorne Greene (Bonanza).

1969 was not really a good year for Schlatter. Not only did Like Hep not get picked up as a series, but there was also the infamous bomb, Turn On over on ABC, and a game show spun off from Laugh-In, Letters to Laugh-In, hosted by Owens, ran for a few months, and no further.

There was another pilot, Soul, not to be confused with the PBS series of the same name, and featuring Redd Foxx, Nipsey Russell, and musical guests Joe Tex and Martha & The Vandellas. We'll look at that another time.

Like Hep gets a B.